If the Pac 10 and Big 12 take at least four schools from the Mountain West, it's lights out, as the automatic bid for the basketball tournament is gone. Where do the refugees go?

San Diego State - barring the unlikely possibility of getting the big promotion (Pac 10), the WAC seems to be the only option due to geography.

UNLV - see San Diego State

Wyoming - unlikely to bag a Big 12 invite, they now seem stuck at the northeastern edge of the WAC. Would FCS and the Big Sky be a better option?

Air Force/Colorado State - The WAC would likely be the only option, but would Conference USA be willing to extend them an invitation? Air Force could follow in Army and Navy's footsteps and elect FBS independence with its other sports in the Summit.

New Mexico - likely extended an invite in a severly reconstituted Big 12, but if not, do they join New Mexico State in the WAC or join UTEP in Conference USA?

TCU - if for some reason the Frogs don't make it to an AQ conference, rejoining C-USA seems more palatable than rejoining the WAC.

Why not the MWC raid other conferences to stay alive. WAC members would love to join MWC leftovers.Boise stUNR Fresno stUTEPWould make good replacements, not great, but good.The WAC is the conference in trouble.

Yes, but the MWC wasn't supposed to get a bid so fast when they formed, yet they did. The NCAA doesn't work to penalize conferences when things are out of their control. Rules exist, but exceptions are often made (see attendance requirement for FBS). In all likelihood, the MWC would add 3 replacement teams, and then the WAC would add replacements (albeit limited options) and both conferences would continue to exist.

The MWC did not get a bid right away.The MWC was established in 1999, and maybe should have had to wait 5 years.However, the MWC Champs and perhaps one or two others were all ranked high enough those first few years to earn at-large berths and get into the tourney anyway.

The MWC was going to earn an automatic bid at some point, but the power conferences complained that keeping the tourney at 64 would mean that one at-large would disappear, and they would lose money on that one team that would be shut out of the field of 64.

So a deal was worked out to expand the tourney field to 65 (to preserve the previous number of at-large slots) and the 64 vs. 65 play-in game was added. This happened in spring of 2001, so the MWC had to wait 2 years, I believe.

This is what happened. Both the WAC and MWC lost the autobid for 1 year (2000) I was thinking what a bunch of BS, Fresno St. finally has a chance to get into the NCAAs since 1984 and we win the WAC tourney on our home floor but we might not get in because the MWC took our members and we were left with this new leftover sh*t pile. Oh we got in.

This is what happened. Both the WAC and MWC lost the autobid for 1 year (2000) I was thinking what a bunch of BS, Fresno St. finally has a chance to get into the NCAAs since 1984 and we win the WAC tourney on our home floor but we might not get in because the MWC took our members and we were left with this new leftover sh*t pile. Oh we got in.

Yup. If I recall correctly, Utah and UNLV got in that year from the MWC. I could be wrong...

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